Ask American Profile 5/3/2009

Heidi Klum, Arnel Pineda, Kevin Bacon, Johnny Weissmuller

Q Heidi Klum is a judge on Project Runway, as well as its host. What qualifies her to be a judge, other than her modeling career?
-Kitty Hood, Covington, La.

Design has always been a passion for Klum, 35. Before she won a modeling competition that opened the door to her career as a supermodel, she had planned to attend fashion school. The mother of three (two with her husband, singer Seal, 46) designed her own line of clothing for a German mail-order catalog and has also designed shoes for Birkenstock, jewelry for Mouawad and a clothing line for Jordache, as well as being part of the design team for Victoria's Secret lingerie. Her jewelry line is available on QVC.


Q What can you tell me about Journey's new lead singer?
-Carol Ann Marks, Wooster, Ohio

When the previous singer departed at the end of 2007, guitarist Neal Schon turned to the Internet and youtube.com to find the band's new front man, Arnel Pineda. Pineda, 41, hails from the Philippines and had been singing Journey songs with his band, The Zoo, for the past couple of years. "I'm actually looking forward to the scrutiny I'll get from the hardcore Journey fans," Pineda says. "I know they'll expect me to sound exactly like 'The Voice' (original lead singer Steve Perry), but that will never happen. There's only one Steve Perry in the world."


Q I recently saw Kevin Bacon in the HBO movie Taking Chance about a U.S. Marine who escorts the body of a fallen Marine home to be buried by his family. I was wondering if Bacon has ever served in the military.
-Leo Peeples, Oceanside, Calif.

Bacon, 50, has played three characters with U.S. Marine backgrounds in two theatrical films, Frost/Nixon and A Few Good Men, and the recent TV movie Taking Chance. But he's never served in the military himself. "I'm not the guy to throw myself in harm's way," he admits. "I would never make it through boot camp. It's all acting."


Q Did Johnny Weissmuller, Tarzan of the movies, play any other characters other than his "Lord of the Jungle" roles?
-Faye Raines, Garrison, Texas

Just barely. Weissmuller, who died in 1984 at 79, made 12 Tarzan films from 1932 to 1948 before shifting to the "white hunter" character known as Jungle Jim in a series of low-budget flicks from 1948 to 1955, and a Jungle Jim TV series. His only out-of-Africa role of any note was in Swamp Fire in 1946, set in Louisiana bayou country. His final film appearance was as a stagehand in Won Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood in 1976, which featured cameos from many other Hollywood stars.

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